I've been to some forums where people criticize what Pakunoda had decided to do in Yorkshin--to sacrifice herself for Kuroro. It's not that I disagree with them, since it was probably a good idea for Pakunoda to do that.

Suppose Pakunoda had let the rest of the Ryodan come with her--there are then two possible situations that could happen: one, Kuroro would die, and Gon and Killua would die as well; two, Kuroro would not die (because Kurapika doesn't want his friends to die) and Gon and Killua would be returned safely.

Judging by Kurapika's personality, there's probably a 75% chance that the second situation would happen. Thus, even had Paku not sacrificed, there's still a high chance that Kuroro would live.

Even if Kuroro had died, the Ryodan would not be running out of leaders, since either Shalnark or Phinks could probably take his place. Also, since Kuroro seems to care more about the Ryodan than about his life, Pakunoda should probably also do the same; in his case, she should worry more about his goals (the Ryodan) than his life.

If looked at differently however, one could say Pakunoda was doing this for the good of Kuroro as well as the rest of the Ryodan--the Ryodan don't seem to get along well without Kuroro, thus, in a way, Paku was saving the Ryodan from extra arguments.

However, the Ryodan did have two hostages and Kurapika only had one. The Ryodan could've easily taken the upper stance in the matter, yet they decided to let Kurapika control them.

Kurapika got to decide that Kuroro would die if Pakunoda didn't come alone, and the Ryodan didn't bother threatening Kurapika in return. The Ryodan easily could've said that Gon and Killua would die if Kurapika didn't release Kuroro right away.

Kurapika would definetly be persuaded by the threat of his friends' deaths, yet, the Ryodan didn't bother to take the upper hand. Instead, they let themselves get trampled by Kurapika over Kuroro's life, of which he didn't even care about.

Also, Kuroro says himself that Pakunoda is the lifeline of the Ryodan. Considering that her abilities make sure the rest of the Ryodan is safe from danger (being able to gather info about what they're trying to steal from, fight, etc.) and Kuroro is only there to solve internal problems (well and make plans, but other people in the Ryodan are good at that too), then Pakunoda would obviously be more important for the Ryodan.

Kuroro cares a lot about the Ryodan, but perhaps Pakunoda cares more about its leader. Thus, should the leader's life or the leader's wishes be more important? Perhaps in this case, it should be the leader's goals, since the leader himself prizes his goals over his life.

Shouldn't a sacrificer of a person first consider what that person wants? Sacrificing for a person should be for what the person wants, rather than what one thinks is good for the person.

At the same time, Pakunoda's sacrifice proved that not everyone in the Ryodan were cold-hearted killers. Perhaps she serves as a good reason for Kurapika to change his mind and quit his pursuit on the Ryodan. (I don't think so though...). Nonetheless, the more logical choice here would've been opposing what Paku did, but obviously she couldn't have thought logically (perhaps more emotionally) while she was in such turmoil.

Thus, perhaps she should've left the decision to the more rational minded people and let them decide what danchou would want most and what would be best for their current situation.